1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for the allocation of multimedia system resources. More, particularly, the present invention relates to an intelligent mechanism for group allocation of multimedia system resources based on device access requests. The invention incorporates the particular limitations of the end user as well as the constraints and priorities of the requesting multimedia devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Multimedia can be represented by a variety of devices which produce or use video, audio/voice, graphical, textual/alphanumeric data, sensorial input or many other types of input/output. Because of the various hardware and software requirements necessary to implement each type of multimedia resource, the simultaneous or concurrent use of multiple types of devices can create serious problems with compatibility in timing, memory allocation, CPU allocation, bandwidth, etc. The proper operation of multimedia devices requires precise timing in delivery of data. An example of the narrow range for compliance for multimedia systems would be a video conferencing environment where it would be intolerable to allow the audio to precede or follow the motion of the speaker's lips as presented in the accompanying video. A half second delay of the audio would be immediately perceived by the user and would be unacceptable for high quality communications.
As can be readily seen from the above example, a definite need exists for the proper management of a multiplicity of multimedia requesting devices to match the needs of the user with the computing resources available. To insure a high quality of playback, the system needs to be able to promise the multimedia requesting devices enough computing resources to complete each of their respective tasks.
The systems currently available in the prior art do not make the required promises to the various resources and therefore the quality of presentation has suffered. Audio clips often skip like a scratched record, and video clips are grainy or skip frames. In addition, because of the inability of prior art systems to properly integrate multimedia devices, the ability of the end user to interact with the system has been greatly limited.
Some prior art systems have attempted to make piece-meal resource allocations. They allow each device to request resources, but since each request is separate, resources allocation occurs with only mixed benefits to the end user. Other prior art systems have made specially coded objects which are tightly coupled in order to make better commitments to resources. This attempt at resource allocation severely limits future development and expandability.
The apparent standard prior art answer to resource allocation is to use existing operating system mechanisms to solve the problem. Most operating systems, for instance, will allow system resources (i.e. memory) to be allocated to a single device/user on a first come basis. This typical prior art mechanism has been common for over 20 years. This method, referred to as a default type allocation, cannot efficiently and properly interrelate a multiplicity of simultaneous or copending multimedia devices.
One step better than the default mechanism has been implementing a special purpose dedicated CPU scheduler or a special network bandwidth allocator to manage resources. This particular solution allows limited intelligence to be integrated into resource allocation, but fails to account for user and device specific constraints.
The following patents are examples of prior art system resource allocation methods. While the references show resource allocation methods, they fail to account for the hardware, software and user constraints as required in a multimedia application versus the discrete data requirements in a non-multimedia application.
U.S Pat. No. 5,148,154 to McKay, et al. admits to the concept of resource management but focuses on the interface a user would interact with to schedule the use of resources in a special three-dimensional manner. The objects in McKay's patent refer to data objects and their place in the display and time dimensions. This is very different from the instant invention which defines an internal automated manner by which a collection of objects could request resources and have them granted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,743 to Rassman, et al. covers the scheduling of resources over time. These resources are allocated to one owner at a time, and provisions are made for automatic rescheduling if conflicts occur. This kind of resource management differs from the one presented herein, and does not address the issue of time, but rather addresses partial ownership and division of resources at any given point in time. The patent implies (through its use of database) that access and decision making is distributed. That is, that each scheduling application makes the decisions necessary and the only central information is the database itself.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,745 to Quentin, et al. concerns the use of an interface, scripting language and. expert system to solve end-user problems. No mention is made of resource allocation and.backslash.or management thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,395 to Nose, et al. addresses the idea of objects and the need for objects to have resources associated with them. Its focus is completely on the presentation of these objects in a user interface and the method by which an end-user associates resources with an object. The applications described in the patent allow the user to select a group of objects, but these applications rely on the default or existing system mechanisms for the allocation of these resources, and they do not specify any collaboration or grouping of the objects internal to the system.